Advent Calendar

This might just be the favorite part of the holidays for the kids. What started out many years ago with the simple waxy chocolate calendars has evolved to velvet sacks filled with goodies.

I have 24 bags with numbered ornaments on them. Each bag contains a wrapped gift for each child. I hung them a couple days before Dec. 1st and each kid that walked in the house that afternoon screamed with anticipation. Even the 15 yr old.
My staircase banister has exactly 24 railings so it was the perfect place to hang them. Many years ago, I nailed 24 nails into my wall.... yah, not doing that again. Then when we moved into the apartment, I hung them to an existing curtain rod in the living room. That was super cute. Then we moved into this house and I was faced with a dilemma (ok this word doesn't look right at all but spell check said it was correct). No way was I putting 24 nail holes in my new walls and I had no curtains. Alas... the staircase! It worked out perfectly!

My goal is not to break the bank. Small items, candy, etc. In a perfect world, I would have bought an item once a month, then the other 12 would hold a small candy. But that takes organization. So yep, 24 pieces of candy this year. Well, they did get gloves and the ever popular Pokemon ball. 13 days left.... the days are flying by!